Very rare (for me) refueling of CF-18s and Alpha Jets somewhere near South West Nova Scotia.
This occurred on November29th during Exercise Amalgam Dart staged out of CFB Greenwood, NS.
Boom Frequency used was 227.500

Hey Ed, thanks for the info. I'll have to keep an eye out for this guy. They actually do work on CH-140 Aurora's at IMP, at the airport, and there is usually 2-3 of them sitting around out there on any given day, (I think one actually fly's sometimes lol) so I wonder if that has anything to do with it as well, since the CH-140 is a P-3 airframe, with updated electronics and such.

Quote:

Originally Posted by looknlisten

Very rare (for me) refueling of CF-18s and Alpha Jets somewhere near South West Nova Scotia.
This occurred on November29th during Exercise Amalgam Dart staged out of CFB Greenwood, NS.
Boom Frequency used was 227.500

Awesome catches Look, thanks for posting them!! What kind of antenna and radio/scanners are you using?

You would not believe me if I told you!...really, but here goes:
Those comms were via a PRO-43 connected to an antenna made of brake-line tubing, a piece of scrap wood bolted to a chimney mount about 30 ft up and connected to a powered 4-way cable splitter (unity gain) via Monster Cable RG59.
Otherwise, I also have two Pro-2006 workhorses still going strong, a Pro-51 and a PSR-800. Again, all connected via the splitter to that one home-brew antenna.
Say what you will, but most all of my AudioBoos were recorded using that setup.
I also have a J-pole cut for MilComm and a patched-up RS discone on the garage.
One really awesome antenna I have is a ground plane from Moncton Centre for the commercial aviation band. Built like a tank...but sitting in storage at this time. Same with a MilComm antenna from YQI tower when NavCan did some upgrades a few years back...also in the garage.
I have a 10 ft pole and a roof mounted tripod mount also lying in wait for when I splurge on some decent cable and probably a good discone. Until then, I'm pretty happy with the setup (cuz I'm cheap).
Last but not least, a DX-392 for HF. This is seldom on, but did come alive when the Bounty sank during Hurricane Sandy.
As you can see, I'm a fan of the RS gear. Can't help it...between my wife and I, we have about 25 years selling the stuff. The gear is old, but it still works amazing. The PSR-800...that's a techno gadget I love, but the others are far superior in reception and sensitivity (on Military comms). What I do really like about the PSR-800 is the ability to record not only the audio, but all the meta data associated with it such as exact time, station ids, pager tones, etc. Also, it is pretty much unlimited in frequency capacity so you can afford to add a few 'test' frequencies in with the known actives.
So, probably not the best setup, but I have a fantastic vantage point for RF, especially from the NE-US. Now, if I could only have more time off from work to get to play, that would be great.

I was wondering if you were searching the band and happened on that 227.5 or do you have a list of possible RCAF milair freqs, other than the ones published in Nav Can documents?

Also re the WP-3 coming to Halifax... I wonder if the Americans reading that item would have realized that the NOAA WP-3's come to Halifax for their major overhauls at IMP just as many other Orions/P3's from around the world do? So this visit is to familiar territory for this aircraft.

__________________
Radio monitoring and scanning since the 60's. Visit my Nova Scotia radio site at www.marscan.com

Ethyl 16 has spoken with PEACH 69 and anticipate to meet at the CP of AR-20 at 1840Z.
Overcast with the occasional break in the clouds. Not the best for photos.
Accepting MARSA at this time.1832Z
PEACH 69 (E-8C?) TC=960043 and ETHYL 16 = NH KC-135R

You would not believe me if I told you!...really, but here goes:
Those comms were via a PRO-43 connected to an antenna made of brake-line tubing, a piece of scrap wood bolted to a chimney mount about 30 ft up and connected to a powered 4-way cable splitter (unity gain) via Monster Cable RG59.
Otherwise, I also have two Pro-2006 workhorses still going strong, a Pro-51 and a PSR-800. Again, all connected via the splitter to that one home-brew antenna.
Say what you will, but most all of my AudioBoos were recorded using that setup.
I also have a J-pole cut for MilComm and a patched-up RS discone on the garage.
One really awesome antenna I have is a ground plane from Moncton Centre for the commercial aviation band. Built like a tank...but sitting in storage at this time. Same with a MilComm antenna from YQI tower when NavCan did some upgrades a few years back...also in the garage.
I have a 10 ft pole and a roof mounted tripod mount also lying in wait for when I splurge on some decent cable and probably a good discone. Until then, I'm pretty happy with the setup (cuz I'm cheap).
Last but not least, a DX-392 for HF. This is seldom on, but did come alive when the Bounty sank during Hurricane Sandy.
As you can see, I'm a fan of the RS gear. Can't help it...between my wife and I, we have about 25 years selling the stuff. The gear is old, but it still works amazing. The PSR-800...that's a techno gadget I love, but the others are far superior in reception and sensitivity (on Military comms). What I do really like about the PSR-800 is the ability to record not only the audio, but all the meta data associated with it such as exact time, station ids, pager tones, etc. Also, it is pretty much unlimited in frequency capacity so you can afford to add a few 'test' frequencies in with the known actives.
So, probably not the best setup, but I have a fantastic vantage point for RF, especially from the NE-US. Now, if I could only have more time off from work to get to play, that would be great.

Cheers!

I believe it man lol!! One of the best antenna's I had was a home brew 1/4 wave dipole I made out of scraps of wire and stuff I had kicking around my house. It worked great for MilAir, until I killed it one of the times I took my mast down for a hurricane that was headed our way. IF it works, use it! That's what I always say

You should get those fancy antenna's up! Imagine what you would pick up with purpose built antennas, especially commercial grade, in your location. I've always used plain jane RG-6 coax, and it works just fine for Rx, you should give it a shot.. You can buy 1000ft for 80-90 bucks, maybe a bit more, or you can buy just what you need from most places like Home Depot, or Kent, at decent prices per foot. I've been told for Rx (Receiving) only, 75 Ohm RG-6 will work just as well as a 50 Ohm cable (RG-213 or whatever), and that the impedance matching is more important for Transmitting. Don't quote me on that tho, I'm sure there is some disadvantages, but for the price, I'd say its worth trying.

Anywho, Thanks for posting all of that. And thanks again for sharing all your catches, listening to them makes me want to move...again lol, to the top of a big a$$ hill! Next year maybe

Thanks for that news Ian, I am inside of a year from moving out of out Bat Cave esque apartment and into a nice radio friendly house. I'll be looking at an antenna too, I just need one that picks up Mil Air that I can leave around like you do. I take my PSR-500 with me evvvverywhere and in addition I don't like the idea of swapping antennas on it all the time. If I had one that I could leave on an external anenna AND bear to part with when I left the house I'd be set.

Hehe, I like that Great to hear your almost ready for a house man, me and the GF are in the same situation pretty much, we are lucky that we are in a house now, but we only rent atm, so I cant get too crazy with Antenna's, and Masts.

You should try to grab a PSR-410 or something comparable, then you can still take your 500 with you, and have a monitoring scanner at home on record.. That's why I have my BCT15's, they do MilAir and Analog trunking, so I can listen to most anything I want to hear.

Yeah a 410 or a 400 would be perfect and they're nicely priced. Also if i can add a second trunking scanner it'd be great.. I've got that 396XT that I programmed for a friend and its really neat to leave it on EHS and Fire while keeping the 500 on Police. Lets you hear a lot without missing things. I have to give it back tonight and I'm going to miss being able to monitor like that a bit. I'm going to look into that once we get settled.

I caught the tail end of it. Ethyl70 refueling REACH 243. Derek reporting it as Heavy C-17 07-7180 Charleston bird

Dang, and I just finally got my radios fired back up! Would have been a nice way to see how they're working with the new setup. FYI for those who use it, my feed here on RR is back up and running now for CYHZ.

My Radar box is picking stuff up almost twice the distance it used too! Darryl, you should be getting emails again. Let me know if your not. There should have been 4 or 5 in the last hour.

Sure have Ian!! Got the C-17 that tanked, a KC-135 about an hour before (Mighta been the jet going to intercept the C-17)... And another C-17 above 30,000 shortly after the refuel. All good man, as always it's hugely appreciated.

Sure have Ian!! Got the C-17 that tanked, a KC-135 about an hour before (Mighta been the jet going to intercept the C-17)... And another C-17 above 30,000 shortly after the refuel. All good man, as always it's hugely appreciated.

Sweet, glad to hear it. And YW dude I suspect the timing will be a lot different, not to mention the amount of aircraft it picks up, my range for the most part is 100NM in all directions or better, as compared to less than 50 before.